Well I almost won today....right up to putting the pan back and and tightening up the bolts and then I had to stop as you'll see why below.

Firstly I did as we discussed, jacked her from the front, undid the bolts leaving two at the front and one at the back. ....then she started oozing....ok time to put on the safety glasses and close my mouth. Then, I pushed up the pan (taking the weight off) and undid the one at the rear with the two front holding it up at an angle....now ahe starts gushin! Oh crap my 8 litre drip tub isnt shaped long enough to catch all the drips. Quick! Went and grabbed the old kitty litter tub I had just for the occasion. ...whew.

Drip Drop Red Baptisim:


Ok she got back down to a drip, then I took the pan right off and dropped it in the tub. By the way...ATF is really great for my hair...


Finally I took off the filter held in place by a 13mm nut and the plastic pipe came with it. The filter pipe o ring was still up there so just yanked it out. To be honest it looked ok but I want to swap it out whist I am there.


Time for a selfie. The ATF works wonders for my hair:



Ok whilst I was waiting for the fluid to all drip out I went and did my little job on the speedo nylon gear, cleaned out the pan and then ducked down the shop to get my o ring for the filter pipe and a few other odds and ends.

Filter Pipe

Filter Pipe O-Ring

Filter Pipe connection to transmission


She wasn't too bad but had a bit of black crud in the bottom:


Old filter. Looked ok but would have to be at least 3 years old:


Old Gasket. Looked ok. Made out of rubber. Might keep it for Justin (Just in Case)





Came back and firstly applied red RTV to the pan rim, then applied the cork gasket that came with my filter kit. Next I placed RTV on top of the gasket and finally on the rim of the transmission end.






Started to place the pan back and tighten up the nuts when I started to notice that bloody cork gasket is squishing out the sides! Crikey! She is stuffed! I stopped right there. I am not going to get baptised in fluid again if I dont have to.



Time to chat with the WoOz to ask for his wise counsel . (I caught him in the middle of a road trip driving his S-Type across the country)

As always he was my saving grace The decision has been made. It MAY be ok as I applied RTV as well but seeing how I haven't filled it back up yet...best to err on the side of caution and get the gasket right.

It will be down the store for either a cardboard gasket or if not....reuse the rubber one I took out as it looked and felt fine. Just need to scrape off all that bloody RTV and start fresh tomorrow. Almost there but now time for a beer me thinks. ...actually nah....need a scotch now

Grant thanks again for coming to the rescue as always


PS. I took off the pan tonight in preparation. Yep...the gasket was buggered. I did good didn't I?

 

Great stuff Paul. those cork gaskets are rubbish IMO. I am sure that rubber one dressed with RTV will be fine, a bit more sparingly applied next time, I should say. When funds permit, I have had ones of these (link below) for several years, and again, dressed with RTV no leaks, and re-useable. The trans gasket does not need to be done up too tight, just a nip as the WoOz said above.
https://www.amazon.com/Moroso-93103-.../dp/B003YLH8FM


As to the general experience: hair, spillage, rubbish gaskets, leaks, we have all been there!
Greg

 

DONE GOOD, bloody hell you rig workers are a ham fisted mob.

When you go shopping tomorrow, drop into a framing shop, and buy a suitable frame for that gasket. Mount that gasket in the frame, and hang it in the living room, you will be SOOOOOOOO popular.

Dont forget to flatten those holes on the topside as we discussed.

Then tighten those bolts A LITTLE BIT PAST FINGER TIGHT, and let the RTV set off (form a gasket as the label states), about 6 beers, then tighten ONE flat of the bolt, NO MORE.

 

AND, whats with the GLOVES, fair dinkum, trans oil, engine oil, grease, ALL are #1 skin conditioner.

The odour wears off in about 2 days, so special, hahaha.

 

Cheers guys!

Thanks Greg yes Grant mentioned to me today via email that I was a little haphazard with the RTV.

Tomorrow I will just do the pan, place gasket on, the RTV on top of gasket. No transmission case this time. Also will try and work around the bolt holes a little more.

Cheers Grant yes I forgot to mention I will also flatten the raised bolt holes on the inside section of the pan. We are suspecting that those may have contributed in cutting my real high quality cork gasket.

Grant...after the RTV dries...do you mean to tighten all the bolts up a little bit more?

I have also bought said beers and I am ready to begin as soon as I get the parts tomorrow

 

Well done Bro!

Very impressed, you are already going places where some other owners would not want to go.

And yet another 'New Look!'

If you ever decide to go 'off grid' how would anyone ever find you!

 

Ha ha ha cheers mate. Well I grew up watching Masters of the Universe. Perhaps I was inspired by Man-E-Faces? (minus the body)



Or perhaps Secret Squirrel:

 

Hi Bro

There is a Programme on TV called 'Hunted' in the UK and if they can't manage to find you then you Win. 100K!

Would you like me to put your name down Lol!

 

Yes Paul.

That RTV needs time to set off once in place.

If time permits, leave it overnight, then just ONE flat more on each bolt. DONT be tempted for that "just bit more" that the brain will scream at you, resist with beers, or you will be doing it all again.

 

Cheers Grant. OK I am almost there but what do you meant by "One Flat more?" Sorry bud

Do you meant one more 1/4 turn?

 

The bolts have 6 flat faces on them, so a spanner can locate. The Great XJS Prophet (Bow to the Southern Cross at all mentions of His Name) means turn the bolt 1 flat only, ie 1/6th of a turn.


Gloves? I thought that was what the ATF had done to your skin!!
Cheers
greg

 

Ok cheers bud.

Wow...so only finger tight....then a little bit past finger tight....allow the RTV to dry....then tighten only 1/6th...got it!

But crikey, I am just going to have to trust the process. My natural instinct is to tighten these "rig tight".

Today will be a day of resisting temptation.....

 

Ok tried again.

Went to the transmission mob and they threw a total curve ball. The bloke tells me he doesn't use RTV and only uses cork gaskets. Tells me he only drains from the radiator as well. The dude was a little arrogant and reckons he worked on heaps of XJ12 transmissions. Right away I felt like I wanted to leave....

My instinct told me to stick with plan A from yesterday so I gave the WoOz a call again

Using the WoOz method of using the gasket with RTV he has never had leaks and we all know Grant has worked on 1 or 2....

Seeing how I could only source a cork gasket and I needed my car tonight I went with my previous rubber gasket. It is intact..doesn't look brand new but doesnt break when I bend it so I am guessing together with the RTV she should be good.

Ok so I applied the RTV again:

Laid down the rubber gasket and applied again:


Next I got the pan, pushed the weight up and started finger tightening all the bolts. Some I couldn't finger tight however they were still way out (probably crap in the thread) so I used a socket extension and socket with no driver, just used it by hand to what I thought would be finger tight.

I haven't detailed it before but I have had lots of troubles getting the bolt 3rd down from the modulator as the RH exhaust pipe is in the way. I have found the easiest way is to use a pair of needle nose pliers to try and surgically put a 1/4" 13mm socket head on the bolt. Then...I use my small extension socket from my little ratchet driver to tighten it up. What a pain!
Said bolt near the bottom. Looks innocent but it isn't:


So i went around and finger tightened them all up, then back around again doing them up about a 1/4 turn. I had one bolt I think is either a little cross threaded or had some crap in the thread as I had to use the socket to tighten it up as finger tight it was still hanging out.

Now, same issue as yesterday, most of the gasket wants to start coming out of the Modulator side. Crap. I wasn't real happy with this but have left it now to dry for a few hours. Hopefully that extra RTV you see is just extra I put on that side.


See on this side you can hardly notice the gasket, and again, a little too much RTV where it is oozing out..which Ill peel/wipe off.


Now she is currently drying. The bolts are only just past finger tight except that one little bloody bolt mentioned above.

Now I will come back in a few hours...tighten them only 1 FLAT , lower her and fill er' up.

Definitely not as perfect as I would have liked it to look however once I fill her and test drive her I will be checking for leaks an making sure integrity is good. Fingers crossed!

To be continued...

 

Mission Complete!

Came back and tightened those bolts virtually nothing. Topped her up with 3.5 - 4 litres before she was happy.

Now there was a bit of back and forth checking the level whilst she was warm. I finally put in the last 500 or so mills. When I last check she is sitting above the WARM MAX word. I have had her at that level before so I am guessing it won't have any adverse affects is she is a little over the MAX line?

I did have one whoopsie though. Spilled about 200mls on the floor as my funnel was so short I had to practically screw it up in a ball to get it into place. I was chugging away when I heard leakage below and sure enough the funnel came out and I was pouring it over the side of the dip stick entry. Luckily it mostly dripped down onto the floor. My Mrs is starting to get suspicious about all the missing towels though I think. Hope she doesn't find out!


Then went and got some petrol and took her for a short coastal cruise. Seems to be gear changing fine and cannot find any leaks underneath.


I have to do an hour's drive round trip tonight so will check again when I come home and make sure there is no leak.

Thanks so much to everybody for their help. Grant thank you again for the

I hope my misadventures posted here may help another keen explorer/novice one day underneath their XJS/XJ12.


Next week...I will be exploring all the wheel bearing and grease points as my next maintenance item. Stay tuned...

P.S. I got my Speedo to work too!
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...6/#post1612442

 

Paul, great news, congratulations

 

Well done.

I like the comment "no oil on the ground, YET".

Maaaaaaate that bloody Jag is going to bite you soooo bloody hard, FAITH, you must have FAITH, or buy a Hyundai HAHAHAHA.


I am proud of what you have done, well done again.

Let me know when the greasing takes place, I will put my phone on redirect to "Dial a Prayer", JUST KIDDING, anytime mate, you know that well enough by now.

 

We can do that Monday if you like Paul, you got a grease gun?. Or do I bring mine.

 

Cheers maate....hung over or not that sounds like a great idea

I have grease and gun ready to go. Mate if you could point out those grease points in the flesh that would make life easier......then we should go to the beach

I'm going to use the one on the left:

 

Ok guys so as discussed my next PM (Preventative Maintenance) item is to do all the grease points. Now I had done this about 2 years ago but only did some of them and have not yet done the wheel bearings since I have taken ownership. So....I need to fill in the blanks.

With that being said, my weapon of choice is as per the last post, Castrol Spheerol HTB 2 to do the wheel bearings as well as the other grease points. (ie. 1 cartridge to do all).

The one on the left:


Now...to find where all those points are hiding, how many squirts and exactly how many points there are is what I am trying to gather next. So far I have...


1) Rear suspension lower fulcrums (one each side), and the inner and outer drive shaft couplings. (4 Total??) How many squirts?
2) Front wheel bearings, 1 each side. Remove wheel. 6 squirts in each one.
3) Take off rear wheels to get to another grease point each side? (2 Total?) 6 squirts in each?
4) Propshaft. Apparently some models have a grease point fitted?

Ok...I feel I have missed a whole heap as I seem to remember there were at least more at the rear.

I would love your guys feedback to help me improve my list for Monday's PM.

Also whilst I have the front wheels off etc. I want to check the anti-roll bar droplink rubbers bushes and have a bit of a captain cook (a look).

Cheers in advance...

 

Dont waste grease on those lower outer nipples, as I mentioned in that write up. Make sure Clarke knows that one, not sure if I sent that to him way back??.

Until that bleed hole is blanked off, they will gobble grease and grease nothing.

Just pump 6 strokes each and leave it.

Then the hubs, through that tin cap, 6 strokes each also, dont fill the hub, not needed.